Visual Distortion Effects Through Translucent Structures in Design Software

1. In a computerized architectural design environment in which a design program is loaded into memory and processed at a central processing unit, a computer-implemented method for creating translucent surfaces within a three-dimensional model, the method comprising: receiving a surface placement instruction that comprises a computer instruction for placing a translucent surface within a three-dimensional model, wherein: the translucent surface is selected from a list of defined surfaces that each comprise a particular type of translucent material, and each particular type of translucent material is associated with pre-defined translucency characteristics; rendering the three-dimensional model of a layout of a design space within an architectural design environment; identifying a position of a user perspective within the three-dimensional model; identifying a first portion of the three-dimensional model that is positioned on an opposite side of the translucent surface from the user perspective within the three-dimensional model; rendering a visual distortion effect for the identified first portion of the three-dimensional model, wherein the visual distortion effect comprises a distortion algorithm that receives input variables from the pre-defined translucency characteristics; and displaying on a display device the three-dimensional model comprising the translucent surface, wherein the three-dimensional model is displayed behind the translucent surface in a distorted form based on the rendered distortion effect.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein rendering a visual distortion effect for the identified first portion of the three-dimensional model comprises: identifying a target pixel that is to be distorted; and randomly selecting one or more other pixels to blur into the target pixel.

3. The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising: masking a second portion of the three-dimensional model that surrounds the translucent surface.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 , further comprising: determining whether one of the randomly selected one or more other pixels originated from the masked second portion of the three-dimensional model; and excluding the one of the selected one or more other pixels from being blurred into the target pixel.

5. The method as recited in claim 3 , wherein masking the second portion of the three-dimensional model comprises: assigning a specific attribute to the second portion of the three-dimensional model.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 , wherein assigning a specific attribute to the second portion of the three-dimensional model comprises rendering the second portion in a specific uniform color.

7. The method as recited in claim 2 , further comprising: identifying a material type associated with the translucent surface; identifying an attribute associated with the material type; and adjusting the visual distortion effect based upon the attribute.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 , further comprising: identifying a color that is associated with the material type; and biasing the visual distortion effect to incorporate the color.

9. The method as recited in claim 7 , further comprising: identifying a magnitude of translucence that is associated with the material type; and biasing the visual distortion effect to incorporate the magnitude of translucence.

10. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising: loading the first portion of the three-dimensional model into a stencil buffer, wherein the first portion is not initially rendered.

11. In a computerized architectural design environment in which a design program is loaded into memory and processed at a central processing unit, a computer-implemented method for creating visual distortions effects through translucent structures, the method comprising: receiving a surface placement instruction that comprises a computer instruction for placing a translucent surface within a three-dimensional model, wherein: the translucent surface is selected from a list of defined surfaces that each comprise a particular type of translucent material, and each particular type of translucent material is associated with pre-defined translucency characteristics; rendering the three-dimensional model of a layout of a design space within an architectural design environment; performing a distortion effect on the translucent surface, wherein performing the distortion effect comprises: masking at least a portion of the three-dimensional model from the translucent surface; and blurring with a distortion algorithm one or more of the pixels of the translucent surface, wherein the distortion algorithm receives input variables from the pre-defined translucency characteristics; and displaying to a user the three-dimensional model, including the translucent surface.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein blurring one or more of the pixels of the translucent surface comprises: identifying a target pixel that is to be distorted; and selecting one or more other pixels to blur into the target pixel.

13. The method as recited in claim 12 , further comprising: determining whether one of the selected one or more other pixels originated from the masked portion of the three-dimensional model; and excluding the one of the selected one or more other pixels from being blurred into the target pixel.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 , wherein masking the portion of the three-dimensional model from the translucent surface comprises: assigning a specific attribute to the masked portion of the three-dimensional model.

15. The method as recited in claim 14 , wherein assigning a specific attribute to the masked portion of the three-dimensional model comprises rendering the masked portion in a specific uniform color.

16. The method as recited in claim 11 , wherein the one or more translucency attributes associated with the translucent material comprise a color.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 , further comprising biasing the distortion effect to incorporate the color.

18. The method as recited in claim 16 , wherein the one or more translucency attributes associated with the translucent material comprise a magnitude of translucence.

19. The method as recited in claim 11 , further comprising: loading the translucent surface into a stencil buffer, wherein the translucent surface is not initially rendered.

20. A computer program product for use at a computer system, the computer program product for implementing a method for creating translucent surfaces within a three-dimensional model, the computer program product comprising one or more computer hardware storage media having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at a processor, cause the computer system to perform the method, including the following: receiving a surface placement instruction that comprises a computer instruction for placing a translucent surface within a three-dimensional model, wherein: the translucent surface is selected from a list of defined surfaces that each comprise a particular type of translucent material, and each particular type of translucent material is associated with pre-defined translucency characteristics; rendering the three-dimensional model of a layout of a design space within an architectural design environment; identifying a position of a user perspective within the three-dimensional model; identifying a first portion of the three-dimensional model that is positioned on an opposite side of the translucent surface from the user perspective within the three-dimensional model; rendering a visual distortion effect for the identified first portion of the three-dimensional model, wherein the visual distortion effect comprises a distortion algorithm that receives input variables from the pre-defined translucency characteristics; and displaying on a display device the three-dimensional model comprising the translucent surface, wherein the three-dimensional model is displayed behind the translucent surface in a distorted form based on the rendered distortion effect.